The Dark Knight Returns
by Jokerang
Summary: A month after Harvey Dent's death, Bruce Wayne is starting to retire the Batman persona. However, new threats and a worldwide conspiracy will bring him into the game one last time. And this time, his role must be done without police allies. In-between The Dark Knight and the Dark Knight Rises, Batman/Harley Quinn/Black Mask
1. Setting and Charecter Notes

Note: Hi everyone. This is my very first fanfiction that I've published here. It was inspired by a Dark Knight Trilogy marathon. When I got to the Dark Knight Rises, I began wondering how crime could have just stopped with Batman's taking the blame for Dent's death. Then I came to this conclusion: it didn't. This story is a bridge between the second and third movies. Without further adieu...

Setting:

It's been a month since Batman went on the run for the murders of Detective Wuertz, Sal Maroni, his chaffier Luis Benzino, and most importantly, Harvey Dent. By now, Bruce Wayne is considering giving up the cowl and retiring as his crime-fighting alter ego, as the streets of Gotham are nearly clean and the GCPD, with a new Dent Act in the works, can handle the rest, it seems. However, a self-proclaimed successor to the Joker and a masked fascist with world ambitions serve to keep Batman on his feet at every turn. And this time, the police are not allies but enemies. Can Wayne finally retire, or will Gotham burn in the aftermath of the events of The Dark Knight?

Character and notes:

-Bruce Wayne/Batman: The billionaire playboy with the secret identity of Batman. He's got a lot on his mind at the moment: rebuilding Wayne Manor, running his company, crime levels in the city, and wonders if he'll ever love again. He's still debating on whether the decision to take the blame for Harvey's murders is the right one. For now it seems the lie is working, but not everything in this city is what it seems to be. The appearance of two new threats compels him to don the costume one last time before retiring.

-Alfred: Bruce's ever loyal butler and the closest thing to a real parent, he is satisfied with his master's decision to stay out of the limelight as batman and wishes him to move on from Rachel's death and run his company. Burdened with the secret of Rachel's now destroyed letter, Alfred encourages Bruce to move on and find new love, although Bruce seems intent on remaining single for the moment.

-Detective Stephens: Stephens is an interesting character in The Dark Knight, being the only non-corrupt cop in Gordon's unit and the only one he really trusted. Here I imagine Gordon trusting him with the secret of Batman and Harvey Dent, and also charging him with the task of discussing anything that needs to be discussed with Batman. That being said, he is going to play a big role in this story, taking the place of Gordon for the most part as he (Gordon) can't be associated with the murderer of a public attorney.

-Harley Quinn: A woman with the same ideals and motives as the Joker, she has managed to single-handedly take control of the Joker's gang and keep it a force to be reckoned with. Currently her background and whereabouts are unknown, like the Joker. This version of Harley will be different that the one comic book readers know. For one, she's not in mad love with the Joker as most depictions of her show. I'm also taking some inspiration from Batman: Arkham City and the in-game downloadable content for her character and motives.

-Black Mask: By day, Roman Sionis is the head of Sionis Industries, a major steel and coal mining company in the Northeast. By night he is the Black Mask, the head of a Fascist cabal/cartel focused on spreading their ideology throughout both the criminal underworld and the governments of the planet. Inspired by Call of Duty's Raul Menendez, the Alex Rider Series's Scorpia, and of course the comic book Black Mask. I always thought Black Mask would have worked better with the whole mask theme in the Dark Knight Rises, so here he is.

-John Daggett: Yes, that one. The one from the Dark Knight Rises. In this story, he is the head of his small construction company when Sionis Industries rolls in town, becoming a big rival to his business. After failing to try to outdo the completion, Daggett realizes that if you can't beat them, join them. Though he won't be sad if Sionis Industries goes bankrupt. Or Wayne Enterprises, for that matter.

Next chapter soon...


	2. The Harlequin

Just another hot day in Gotham City.

Alberto's Cafe provided some relief to the current heat wave that was gripping the city day after day. In addition to the A/C, it was also renowned in this part of Gotham for its Italian Ice slushes. Homemade adn coming in fourteen different flavors, Alberto Ice slushes were all the rave amongst the Italian-American community in the city. And that included it's mobsters. Today, several of the surviving members had come here to discuss a matter important to them.

Taking seats across from each other were Mario and Dante Caldora. Twins in the mafia, the two of them had, until recently, been upper-level inforcers in the underworld, regulating the sales of drugs, weapons, etc. That was, until the Batman and the Dent Act came into play. The former showed the city of Gotham that the mob could be taken down, the latter serving to fufill Batman's legacy, even if the Bat did kill the man for whom the act was named after. And now that most of the mafia's ruling elite were all either dead or in Blackgate Prison, the Caldora brothers stood to gain the most from this bad situation. They did, and did a fine job of it. Thanks to them, their mafia was rebuilding itself from all the events of the past month - the destruction of most of their savings, the death of Sal Maroni, and the purging of all the experiences hustlers and thugs in the Dent Act's initial arrests.

Mario was the first to speak.

"As you all know, gentlemen, the situation is improving. We're investing the remains of our money into a healthy offshore account in the Bahamas. Here our money that escaped the Joker should, if things go as they should, be safe for the next year. Also, we've constructed a list of cops that, in spite of everything, still have bills to pay, debts to return, the usual. Today y'all can look through the list and see which ones are prime targets for bribes and which ones are still loyal to their dumb force."

One of the other men at the table, Victor, took a small part of the stack and started reading. Looking for the most suspectible of canidates, a piece of paper fell to the ground. Victor started to pick it, expecting to be litter or trash of some kind. Instead, it was something that no one would expect be here, in that pile.

It was a Joker card, with four words etched on the back:

"JOKE'S STILL ON YOU."

"Anyone care to explain this rubbish?" Victor asked, in an annoyed tone of voice.

Mario looked embarrassed. "I-I have no clue how the hell that got there. Must have been a joke from one of the guys I got this from. Trust me, the Joker's not a threat and will never will be one ever again."

That part was true. After that SWAT team had apprehended the Joker hanging from a high-riser, he was taken, under heavy guard, to first Blackgate, then Arkham Asylum. Here, he was rumored to have a number of rooms given to him and a psychologist to attempt to treat him. But that last part was in all cases just unnecessary. It seemed the only to cure madness was to isolate it and let it be.

Nodding, Victor went ahead to his buisness.

Outside the Cafe, however, a very different group of criminals were convening. These men were not inticed with money or power. The one thing that these thugs had in common was that they had, at one time, worked with the Joker or agreed, to a degree, with his doctrine of chaos. Beacuse of they had or would not, then their new boss would have liven up to her guarentee that theywould not meet a nice end. More of a gruesome one, on the contrary. Each man here had their role and it was his responsibility to be sure that it went according to plan.

The first step was to take out the guards protecting the back of the cafe. A pair of Big, burly men, armed with M4s and with Rottweilers at hand, stood on each side of the door. In one fell swoop, both of the attack dogs fell down, hit by sleeping darts. When the men went to see what the matter was, the next man went out to do his job. Sneaking up behind the first guard, he quickly put his hand around his neck and proceeded to stangle him. As the guard's companion began to call for help, he was gunned down by a thug with a silenced pistol. With the backdoor security gone, it was time for the inside-clean-up crew to move on in.

Dante Caldora could have sworn that he heard some kind of commotion going on in the kitchen, but he dismissed it as pure imagination. It was only when he heard the distinctive sound of a bullet cracking a window did he take attention to the kitchen. "Guys, I think we need to see what's cookin. I don't think it's the spaghetti and meatballs we ordered-"

"And it sure damn well isn't."

That was said by a woman as the door was busted down and goons in clown masks stormed the area, forcing everyone on the ground and hands behind their backs. The woman, who had a slim figure and was about 5'8, was dressed in an odd kind of fashion. It was a carefully chosen mismatch of red and black, from the jeans to the shirt and coat and gloves. A sort of jester Maudi Gras hat with bells at the ends hung from her head. but what caught everyone's attention was the make-up. It was clearly modeled after the Joker, but it had no red smile, only a thin black line for a grin. Still, it had all the effect the Joker's paint job had made it for: terror, and intimidation.

Mario was the first to guess the connection and decided to play the ballsy card. "Who are you? The Joker's secret slut? It's a shame he never showed you around, cause if he did I would-"

In that moment she grabbed his arm and, with little effort, she broke his arm, snapping it at the elbow.

"Slut? I'll have none of that, bozo. But you can call me Harley Quinn."

And then she and the gang proceeded to get ot work on the hapless Italians.


	3. Burial of a Shining Knight

Two weeks before:

Alarm clock. Bang. New day ahead.

For a man as wealthy as Bruce Wayne, most new days consisted of a number of specific things. These included social dinners, lavish parties, news apperiances, buisness deals and negoations, and many more irrelevant details about the lives of the rich and powerful. Today, however, was not a day for any of those things. For Bruce Wayne, today was the rememberance of a friend, a man who stood for justice and the law, only to disregard it and twist it when the love of his life was taken from him by the city's resident madman.

Today was the funeral of District Attorney Harvey Dent.

As with the funeral of Loeb, it was situated at the center of Gotham itself. The police force and a military band hired exclusively for the event marched somberly in the streets, looking at the beaming banners of Dent that once gave so much hope to a crime-filled and corrupted city. Gordon had been selected to do the honors of the speech. In it, he described Dent's early background, his intrest in politics from an early age, his rise to District Attorney of Gotham City, and his brief but effective fight against the city's organized crime.

After this, Gordon went on to provide an alternate description of Dent's last days on earth. "After the Joker's attempt on his life, Dent was heavily injured, and was moved from one hospital to another for his safety. After he was released, his first act was to head over to the site where his beloved girlfriend, Rachel Dawes, was murdered. At 10:45 in the night, my officers lost all contact with Dent and went to investigate. We told him earlier that the area was unsafe, but he wished to go anyway and pay his last respects. Ten minutes later, the officers found Dent's body. It had been pushed from a ledge and his head had hit the ground, causing near-instant death. Searching the site for any clues, I myself found this batarang. We believe it belongs to Batman, and that he killed Dent for unknown reasons."

_Actually, I gave you that batarang_, thought Bruce Wayne, sitting next to Mayor Garcia. Both of them, along with Gordon and two of Dent's cousins, were sitting in the pallbearer row in the very front. _And that story, although well told and delivered, is a lie. A lie which you and I fabricated for the greater good of this city. I now leave everything in your hands._

"This is the fourth of Batman's murders in the past week discovered. He is now has an arrest warrent for him for all these deaths. Although he may have done them with good intentions, it has been quoted that the path to evil has been paved with such intentions. Batman is no longer welcome in ths town, and the police force will do everything in their power to bring him to justice."

Gordon went on to recap on Harvey Dent's life, and then let the band proform a sad tune relating to the military and duty to one's country. After that, the six pallbearers went to the coffin and loaded it into the funeral hearse. _I'm sorry Dent. I'm sorry your funeral had to be a closed casket one, and I'm sorry that Rachel cound'nt be here either. I'll make it up to you by restoring the city. I promise. And if I can't, Gordon surely can._

The funeral reminded Bruce of his own parents' funeral. It had been done together, driven to the family cemetery together, and finally buried together. In that day, many years in the past, the people had been mostly emotionless socialites who had come together to mourn one of their own. But the funeral of Harvey Dent was far different. Along the hearse ride, crowds and scores of people, bystanders of all ages, came to glance at the fallen White Knight and his prominent escorting pallbearers moving on their way to bury their fallen friend. The news cameras and flashy reporters were everywhere as the pallbearers struggled to move the coffin to it's final resting place in a small cemetery just outside of the city. There was one difference form the funeral twenty-five years ago: it was a bright summer day. Hte type of day that reasssured hope to the hopeless.

Among those spectators was a certain kind of man.

He was the type of man who power seemed to attract, much like honey does to bees. He had a political knack for public office and was a person of much charmsa. But on the inside he was a cold-hearted tyrant, a cruel and remorseless mogul who would do anything to acheive his own ends and desires. To him, Harvey Dent's death looked like a coverup. And he was going to find the skeletons in the closet and use it to take control as he saw fit, even if some had to die in the process.

In other words, he would dig up the Black Mask of the White Knight.

The alarm clock rang again, exactly two weeks after Dent's funeral.

Today, Bruce sought to help choose the next District Attorney and give Gordon another ally.


	4. Investigate and Plan

"Your breakfast and newspaper are ready, Master Wayne."

Bruce was looking out of a window in his premium penthouse when Alfred arrived with His morning delivery of food and reading material. The light outside reflected off the many bright skyscrapers and the thousands of mirrors that plastered them endlessly.

"Thank you Alfred. Would you agree that today is a bright day?"

Alfred nodded. "I persume you're talking in more that just a literal sense?"

"Yes. I see the day when Batman will no longer be needed by this city, or anyone. I see the day when Gordon and the police finally manage to end the crime wave. But this-" - Wayne held op the paper, reading on the front headline ANOTHER MOB SHOOTING -" is'nt helping one bit. This is the third of those these week. I'm going to the computer and analyse what's going on and how to curb it. And I will be going out tonight."

"Again?" Alfred was seriously concerned about Bruce and his mental state. Ever since Rachel and Dent died, Wayne had felt a sense of duty and felt compelled to continue their work by continuing their work- even if it meant hunting crooks while the cops viewed him as a criminal and wanted him dead, along with the Joker and Dr. Crane. And with Rachel gone, Bruce's love life was at a standstill. He had refused to be seen with any women these days, and preferred to be alone most of the day, coming out of the penthouse only for buisness meetings and a rare few political meetings. One of those meetings was scheduled tonight, but it seemed Batman had a change of plans.

"Yes. Remember, I'm still what this city needs me to be. Even if I don't want to and the police all want to be te one to arrest me. It needs to be done. These shootings are way too close to each other to be random events. The evidence Stephens provided should give us a list of suspects and their motives.

"Just..." Alfred trailed off.

"What it is?"

"i've told you this before, but know your limits, Master Wayne. You're all I've got left, you know."

"And likewise with you." Wayne left and headed for the elevator to the basement.

The batcave was currently inascessable, as Wayne Manor was still undergoing reinnovation after it was burned down. The number of specialised construction crews was endless and it hurt Bruce's mind to remember all their deals and negoations. However, a makeshift garage/computer lab in the basement of the tower was an acceptable substitute.

It had all the things Wayne wanted: a computer station set up in the center, a holding area for the Batpod and another Tumber on it's way (courtesy of Lucius Fox), tables for cleaning, testing, and containing new gadgets, refigeration and preserving chambers, and a bullet-proof case containing the bat-suit, complete with stainless stell coverings. The computer alone had high-speed internet wi-fi and it also was made with top-secret ascess to the files of the GCPD, FBI, and hanful of other intelligence agencies in the United States, and Interpol. Six screens and a dozen smaller panels meant that Bruce was able to track anything in the world and then search news in Gotham and the score of the Rouges vs Texans game all at the same time, and with the extra moniters to spare. Applied Sciences had not let him down in this aspect.

Now, Bruce sat down in the $5,000 roller chair custom fitted for him and got to work.

This shooting was the third this week. The first had been in the Narrows, and the victims were three of Gambol's former bodyguards. With their boss dead and the Joker safely locked up, the trio thought the could consolidate what districts their late boss had once had supreme authority in: S. City Park, Gantry, and Rootsville. All of these areas were situated around the Narrows.

The second involved a couple of MS-13 drug dealers. Their turf was located mostly in Midtown, wit hte strongest holding in Silling, followed closely by Reatton and Gainsly. Relativly new to Gotham, the Mexican supercartel stood to make the most profit with close to all of the competition locked up somewhere. Apperently, the killers didn't want newcomers interferring in whatever plans they were coming up with in the drug trade. Or it could just be intimidation. Or something deeper. You could never fully tell the reasoning for a drive-by shooting every damn time.

Now, just yesterday, the Italians had been struck a blow. Once the predominant crime group under Carmine Falcone, the Gotham Italian mafia was shaken by Batman's capture of Falcone and Maroni's death, also at the Batman's hand. Bruce heavily suspected that Dent had a hand in that limo crash on the freeway but for now, as part of the lie, Batman was responsible. The Caldora twins, once enforcers, had quickly risen up the ranks and had a nice fortress in West Harlow and Stevensburg. They'd even managed to gain back their monetary losses from the Joker's bonfire by calling on a bunch of loans from France and Italy, placing the money in carefully selected offshore banking accounts, and a good number of them. Lau's capture showed that placing too much faith in one man was risky and costly. It was better disperse the wealth. According to the news, both the Caldora twins, along with most of their upper staff, were found dead in Alberto's Cafe. One of hte twins had his face carved with a grin, while the other into a sad frown. A note had also been found:

-While the theaticals were designed by my contact here, the message is clear. the old crome barons of corruption and greed will, one by one, submit ot me or die. This city is mone, one way or another. Just look at what happens to those who resist my will. Wait and see.

-BM

Bruce guessed that BM stood for a little known worldwide criminal nicknamed "Black Mask." What little investigations he had tried to send against the man were unsuscessful. Whoever he was, he was a power-broker and knew how to pull his strings in the world around him.

But Bruce's main concern at the moment was the fact that this attack was very similar to the Joker's just a month back. Faces carved in the cheeks and such..

Wait, it could'nt...

Someone was impersonating the Joker and his methods, and that person was in league with this Black Mask. It could be possibly someone who once served in the Jokers gang. Or someone who he had been close to, someone he could trust to carry his vision while he was behind bars.

Problem was, the Joker's past was an unsolved mystery. That meant Bruce would have to search for contacts, make lists, narrow his focus, and all in all take his time a lot more that it had in days. He loathed the work.

Still, there was something that could lift his mood. And that was the dinner held for the new canidates for the next District Attorney. A person that could, if chosen well, could end his job here and now. Right now Dana Worthington, Roman Sionis, and Harry Neider were in something of three-way tie for the job. Bruce hoped that tonight could be useful analysing the three of them and their motives. It just might make the difference.

Unknown to him, it would make all the difference.

In a warehouse in Pettsburg, things were tense. Offically the warehouse was leased to Roman Sionis of Sionis Industries, and was used to transport mineral extracts and mining tools in and out of Gotham and into the state of New Jersey. In truth, it was the American headquarters for Black Mask and his Society. and those "minerals" were really Russian top-notch military weapons and epuipment.

In the manager's office, Roman sat at his desk, looking at a chessboard before him. On it was a game famous to all avid chessplayers: the Game of the century. In it, a seemingly harmless mistake made by White allowed Black, played by the great Bobby Fischer, to offer up his knight in a brilliant sacrifice that led to a series of moves that ended in White's utter ruin and defeat in the game. Black Mask liked to view the game he was playing in real life to this one: soon, a piece would be sacrificed for a greater and more worthy cause. That pawn, however, would be laid on the altar of Fascism very soon, when the time was right.

Black Mask began exploring some of the choices White could have made to the knight sacrifice, when a knock banged the door.

"Come on in."

John Daggett entered. He hated his circumstance but had no choice. The Society had uncovered a lot of dirt on Daggett's little construction crew, which included bribes and illegal dumping of chemicals. Black Mask threated Daggett with a trip to his nearest police station unless Daggett and his buisness were absorbed into Sionis Industies. Daggett recluently took the offer, although he would'nt cry if Sionis dropped dead this minute. He hoped this latest piece of news would satisfy his "boss" for the week.

"Quinn's reported back sir. The Caldora twins are effecttively neutralized, along with their top men. The deaths were also done as ou requested. Personally, I don't see why you don't just hire a professional hitman, like that "Deadshot" guy or someone from another country. The last thing we need is to be asscoiated with that crazy Joker-loving bitch. I mean, she's his doctor and all that but I think sometimes she's _too_ obsessed with her patient-"

"Trust me, she isn't. Althought she'd like for everyone to think so. And as to why I hired her... well, she is a puppet, just like you are, Daggett. Now leave and make sure my men are ready for tonight. It's really important."

"Yes sir right away."

"As Daggett left, Sionis removed a White bishop and placed it along with the rest of the captured pieces on the side.

_Your move, Gotham City._


End file.
